How to design and develop a website

This article covers the all-important first step of every project: define what you want to accomplish with it. When starting with a web project, many people focus on the technical side. Of course you must be familiar with the technique of your craft, but what really matters is what you want to accomplish. Yes, it seems obvious, but too many projects fail not from a lack of technical know-how, but from lack of goals and vision.

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Content:

• How to Design a Website: a Comprehensive, Start to Finish Guide
• Things that will make your life a little easier
• Web design
• 12 Website Design Decisions Your Business or Organization Will Need to Make
• Website Development Process: Full Guide in 7 Steps
• How TO - Build a Website
• 9 Principles of Good Web Design
• 5-Step Web Design Process to Create Winning Websites
• Design and Develop Overview
• How to design a modern website (in simple 9 steps)

How to Design a Website: a Comprehensive, Start to Finish Guide

Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design UI design ; authoring, including standardised code and proprietary software ; user experience design UX design ; and search engine optimization. Often many individuals will work in teams covering different aspects of the design process, although some designers will cover them all.

Web design partially overlaps web engineering in the broader scope of web development. Web designers are expected to have an awareness of usability and be up to date with web accessibility guidelines.

Although web design has a fairly recent history. It can be linked to other areas such as graphic design, user experience, and multimedia arts, but is more aptly seen from a technological standpoint.

It has become a large part of people's everyday lives. It is hard to imagine the Internet without animated graphics, different styles of typography, background, videos and music. During to the World Wide Web was born. Text-only pages could be viewed using a simple line-mode browser. At the time there were multiple browsers, however the majority of them were Unix-based and naturally text heavy.

There had been no integrated approach to graphic design elements such as images or sounds. The Mosaic browser broke this mould. The W3C continues to set standards, which can today be seen with JavaScript and other languages.

In Andreessen formed Mosaic Communications Corp. Netscape created its own HTML tags without regard to the traditional standards process. For example, Netscape 1. Throughout to the browser wars began, as Microsoft and Netscape fought for ultimate browser dominance. On the whole, the browser competition did lead to many positive creations and helped web design evolve at a rapid pace.

In , Microsoft released its first competitive browser, which was complete with its own features and HTML tags. It was also the first browser to support style sheets, which at the time was seen as an obscure authoring technique and is today an important aspect of web design. However designers quickly realized the potential of using HTML tables for creating the complex, multi-column layouts that were otherwise not possible.

At this time, as design and good aesthetics seemed to take precedence over good mark-up structure, and little attention was paid to semantics and web accessibility. To create complex designs, many web designers had to use complicated table structures or even use blank spacer. GIF images to stop empty table cells from collapsing.

This allowed HTML code to be semantic rather than both semantic and presentational, and improved web accessibility, see tableless web design. In , Flash originally known as FutureSplash was developed. At the time, the Flash content development tool was relatively simple compared to now, using basic layout and drawing tools, a limited precursor to ActionScript , and a timeline, but it enabled web designers to go beyond the point of HTML, animated GIFs and JavaScript.

However, because Flash required a plug-in , many web developers avoided using it for fear of limiting their market share due to lack of compatibility. Instead, designers reverted to gif animations if they didn't forego using motion graphics altogether and JavaScript for widgets. But the benefits of Flash made it popular enough among specific target markets to eventually work its way to the vast majority of browsers, and powerful enough to be used to develop entire sites.

In , Netscape released Netscape Communicator code under an open source licence , enabling thousands of developers to participate in improving the software.

However, these developers decided to start a standard for the web from scratch, which guided the development of the open source browser and soon expanded to a complete application platform. Programs like Acid1 , Acid2 , and Acid3 were created in order to test browsers for compliance with web standards. It was also the first browser to fully support the PNG image format. Since the start of the 21st century the web has become more and more integrated into peoples lives. As this has happened the technology of the web has also moved on.

There have also been significant changes in the way people use and access the web, and this has changed how sites are designed. Since the end of the browsers wars [ when? Many of these are open source meaning that they tend to have faster development and are more supportive of new standards. The new options are considered by many [ weasel words ] to be better than Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

With the improvement of 3G and LTE internet coverage, large part of website traffic became mobile-generated. This affected the web design industry, pushing it towards minimalistic, lightened and simplistic style.

In particular, the "Mobile first" approach emerged, which implies creating website design with mobile-oriented layout first, and then adapting it to higher screen dimensions. Web designers use a variety of different tools depending on what part of the production process they are involved in. These tools are updated over time by newer standards and software but the principles behind them remain the same. Web designers use both vector and raster graphics editors to create web-formatted imagery or design prototypes.

Other tools web designers might use include mark up validators [8] and other testing tools for usability and accessibility to ensure their websites meet web accessibility guidelines. Marketing and communication design on a website may identify what works for its target market. This can be an age group or particular strand of culture; thus the designer may understand the trends of its audience. Designers may also understand the type of website they are designing, meaning, for example, that B2B business-to-business website design considerations might differ greatly from a consumer targeted website such as a retail or entertainment website.

Careful consideration might be made to ensure that the aesthetics or overall design of a site do not clash with the clarity and accuracy of the content or the ease of web navigation , [10] especially on a B2B website. Designers may also consider the reputation of the owner or business the site is representing to make sure they are portrayed favourably.

User understanding of the content of a website often depends on user understanding of how the website works. This is part of the user experience design. User experience is related to layout, clear instructions and labeling on a website.

How well a user understands how they can interact on a site may also depend on the interactive design of the site. If a user perceives the usefulness of the website, they are more likely to continue using it. Users who are skilled and well versed with website use may find a more distinctive, yet less intuitive or less user-friendly website interface useful nonetheless.

However, users with less experience are less likely to see the advantages or usefulness of a less intuitive website interface. This drives the trend for a more universal user experience and ease of access to accommodate as many users as possible regardless of user skill.

Advanced interactive functions may require plug-ins if not advanced coding language skills. Choosing whether or not to use interactivity that requires plug-ins is a critical decision in user experience design.

If the plug-in doesn't come pre-installed with most browsers, there's a risk that the user will have neither the know how or the patience to install a plug-in just to access the content.

If the function requires advanced coding language skills, it may be too costly in either time or money to code compared to the amount of enhancement the function will add to the user experience. There's also a risk that advanced interactivity may be incompatible with older browsers or hardware configurations.

Publishing a function that doesn't work reliably is potentially worse for the user experience than making no attempt. It depends on the target audience if it's likely to be needed or worth any risks. Progressive enhancement is a strategy in web design that puts emphasis on web content first, allowing everyone to access the basic content and functionality of a web page, whilst users with additional browser features or faster Internet access receive the enhanced version instead.

In practice, this means serving content through HTML and applying styling and animation through CSS to the technically possible extent, then applying further enhancements through JavaScript. Pages' text is loaded immediately through the HTML source code rather than having to wait for JavaScript to initiate and load the content subsequently, which allows content to be readable with minimum loading time and bandwidth, and through text-based browsers , and maximizes backwards compatibility.

As an example, MediaWiki -based sites including Wikipedia use progressive enhancement, as they remain usable while JavaScript and even CSS is deactivated, as pages' content is included in the page's HTML source code, whereas counter-example Everipedia relies on JavaScript to load pages' content subsequently; a blank page appears with JavaScript deactivated. Part of the user interface design is affected by the quality of the page layout.

For example, a designer may consider whether the site's page layout should remain consistent on different pages when designing the layout. Page pixel width may also be considered vital for aligning objects in the layout design.

The most popular fixed-width websites generally have the same set width to match the current most popular browser window, at the current most popular screen resolution, on the current most popular monitor size. Most pages are also center-aligned for concerns of aesthetics on larger screens.

Fluid layouts increased in popularity around to allow the browser to make user-specific layout adjustments to fluid layouts based on the details of the reader's screen window size, font size relative to window etc.

They grew as an alternative to HTML-table-based layouts and grid-based design in both page layout design principle and in coding technique, but were very slow to be adopted. Accordingly, a design may be broken down into units sidebars, content blocks, embedded advertising areas, navigation areas that are sent to the browser and which will be fitted into the display window by the browser, as best it can. Although such a display may often change the relative position of major content units, sidebars may be displaced below body text rather than to the side of it.

This is a more flexible display than a hard-coded grid-based layout that doesn't fit the device window. In particular, the relative position of content blocks may change while leaving the content within the block unaffected. This also minimizes the user's need to horizontally scroll the page. Responsive web design is a newer approach, based on CSS3, and a deeper level of per-device specification within the page's style sheet through an enhanced use of the CSS media rule.

In March Google announced they would be rolling out mobile-first indexing. Web designers may choose to limit the variety of website typefaces to only a few which are of a similar style, instead of using a wide range of typefaces or type styles.

Most browsers recognize a specific number of safe fonts, which designers mainly use in order to avoid complications. Font downloading was later included in the CSS3 fonts module and has since been implemented in Safari 3. This has subsequently increased interest in web typography , as well as the usage of font downloading.

Most site layouts incorporate negative space to break the text up into paragraphs and also avoid center-aligned text. The page layout and user interface may also be affected by the use of motion graphics.

The choice of whether or not to use motion graphics may depend on the target market for the website. Motion graphics may be expected or at least better received with an entertainment-oriented website. However, a website target audience with a more serious or formal interest such as business, community, or government might find animations unnecessary and distracting if only for entertainment or decoration purposes.

This doesn't mean that more serious content couldn't be enhanced with animated or video presentations that is relevant to the content. In either case, motion graphic design may make the difference between more effective visuals or distracting visuals. Motion graphics that are not initiated by the site visitor can produce accessibility issues.

Things that will make your life a little easier

But finding the answer could lie within the appearance of your website. You know you need to design a company website that attracts your target customer and keeps them around long enough to show you understand their goals, values, and paint points. A report by Stanford found that three-quarters of people judge a company by their web design. This influences their feelings and place in the user journey.

Web design

Web design refers to the design of websites that are displayed on the internet. It usually refers to the user experience aspects of website development rather than software development. Web design used to be focused on designing websites for desktop browsers; however, since the mids, design for mobile and tablet browsers has become ever-increasingly important. A web designer works on the appearance, layout, and, in some cases, content of a website. Appearance, for instance, relates to the colors, font, and images used. Layout refers to how information is structured and categorized. A good web design is easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, and suits the user group and brand of the website. Many webpages are designed with a focus on simplicity, so that no extraneous information and functionality that might distract or confuse users appears. Two of the most common methods for designing websites that work well both on desktop and mobile are responsive and adaptive design. In responsive design, content moves dynamically depending on screen size; in adaptive design, the website content is fixed in layout sizes that match common screen sizes.

12 Website Design Decisions Your Business or Organization Will Need to Make

Impressive website design can help improve various aspects of companies, including increasing customer outreach, sales and revenue. If you're hoping to develop an attractive and effective website, it can be beneficial to understand which types of designs are best suited for your company or business. In this article, we discuss what web design is and give you lists of popular website designs and layouts. Read more: What Is Web Designing? Definition, Elements and Uses.

Website Development Process: Full Guide in 7 Steps

It is a project-based introduction to web design, created primarily for use in secondary schools, grades However, the curriculum has been adopted and applied in a variety of settings ranging from elementary schools to universities. The curriculum emphasizes standards-based and accessible design, is cross-platform and vendor-neutral, and is freely available for teachers to use in their own classrooms. This version of the curriculum was created as part of the AccessComputing project at the University of Washington, in collaboration with a team of high school web design teachers in Bellingham, Washington, with input from nearly one hundred web design teachers nationwide who participated in a pilot project in Fall Additional information about the history and funding of the curriculum are provided at the bottom of this page.

How TO - Build a Website

Whether you are a designer or a developer, or even just someone wanting to get an online presence with little experience, the web design process can be made much easier with a bit of forward planning. These are some of the key things that you should consider when you design your website to make the process easier, we hope you enjoy our simple refresher guide Imagine that the website you are about to create is for a clothing brand selling to young people. In this instance, you are likely to be looking to pop culture for inspiration. Once you have determined who your website is for, the next step is to plan the structure. Think of this as the blueprint. At this stage, you will be creating the site map and you need to start at the top with the homepage. From there you need to create a map to all the other pages in the site.

9 Principles of Good Web Design

Anyone can design a website. Yes, anyone! However, designing a new website isn't something you merely jump right into. Below features a complete step-by-step guide to web design — from your site's conception, launch, post-launch management, and scaling.

5-Step Web Design Process to Create Winning Websites

Despite conventional wisdom, the core part of website development and design is not necessary for the coding process. But what usually stays behind the scenes and, at the same time, remains the crucial part of the website development life cycle are the stages of preliminary information gathering, detailed planning, and post-launch maintenance. The overall number of development stages usually varies from five to eight, but every time the whole picture stays pretty much the same. When you think of building a website, your thoughts rotate around two main issues — price and time. These two values depend largely on the size and scope of the project.

Design and Develop Overview

Investing in a new website is a major decision for any business, big or small. Your website is the face of your brand in the online world — the place where your potential customers come to gain in-depth knowledge about who you are and what you do. When done correctly, a new website will function as a lead-generating machine, turning web traffic into quantifiable conversions. But if you miss the mark, it could turn into a can of worms — a seemingly never-ending cycle of tweaks and fixes that chew through your time and money. Most business owners are aware of the risks associated with website development projects.

How to design a modern website (in simple 9 steps)

The internet is part of who we are. In fact, in , the UN General Assembly declared internet access a human right. That means a well-designed website is crucial for any company looking to reach a wider audience and attract more customers. In the early days of the net, creating web pages was a complex and complicated process that was almost entirely handled by IT departments.